Richemont has been an excellent performer on the JSE of late. In the last year it has gone from R100 a share to R170. When you look at the performance of their competitors like Louis Vuitton, you can see why. Luxury goods companies are enjoying a bumper year.
On Friday, Richemont released a brilliant sales update for the first quarter of 2021. Sales nearly doubled versus the first quarter last year. Of course that was over a period when China was in full lockdown mode. More importantly, sales grew 22% from the first quarter of 2019.
Asia Pacific saw a 40% growth from 2019, the Americas grew 47%, the Middle East grew 55%, while Europe declined 15% (they rely heavily on tourist spending).
All in all, a very good set of sales numbers. As the rich get richer, we expect Richemont to be a consistent performer for local portfolios.